There's a lot of argument about the importance of spinning improvements in a medieval economy, but there is no argument that the device called a 'spinning jenny' helped to start the industrial revolution. Spinning in general consists in taking individual fibers of cotton or wool or hemp or nettle and twisting them together into a [...]
Category: science and engineering
What is Science?
One of the reasons that I loved Dante, once I figured out how to read him, was that his attitude towards the world was one of careful observation. He knew, for example, where the stars were in the heavens at different times of the year, and different times of night, and different parts of the [...]
Is the Pope making the Galileo Mistake, continued
Making mistakes/owning mistakes Is the Pope Making the Galileo Mistake "He that is giddy thinks the world turns round." W. Shakespeare Galileo's insult to the Pope ended in a trial for disobedience (not heresy). Galileo was convicted and sentenced to house arrest. (If you want a good summary of the trial look for Stillman Drake's [...]
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